Understanding consumer psychology in working‐class contexts

Carey, Rebecca M.; Markus, Hazel Rose

doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2016.08.004

Cited by 34 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…In line with this contemporary view of socioeconomic status, Carey and Markus (2016, this issue) conceptualize social class as a multi‐faceted construct. Building their theorizing on studies that utilize both objective and subjective measures of socioeconomic status, they tie the distinction between middle‐ and working‐class to the fundamental difference between independent and interdependent cultures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this commentary, we underscore the importance of social class in affording new theoretical and managerial insights. As noted by Carey and Markus (2016, this issue), the literature in social and consumer psychology may characterize middle‐class consumers better than it does working‐class consumers. Viewing previous theoretical perspectives through the lens of social class differences allows us to consider new research questions (e.g., Riemer, Shavitt, Koo, & Markus, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social class appears to influence the thinking styles people adopt (Carey and Markus, 2016, this issue), and this may have implications for how they process information in general. In this section, we consider the implications of social class differences in thinking styles for consumer information processing and persuasion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Abstract Comparing working‐class and middle‐class consumers, Carey and Markus (2016, this issue) highlight the ways that social class determines consumer behavior through a set of mutually supportive culture cycles. We use their framework to re‐examine several core assumptions in marketing and consumer behavior, assumptions that may fit middle‐class consumers better than they do working‐class consumers.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Stratification and segmentation: Social class in consumer behavior

2016

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Comparing working‐class and middle‐class consumers, Carey and Markus (2016, this issue) highlight the ways that social class determines consumer behavior through a set of mutually supportive culture cycles. We use their framework to re‐examine several core assumptions in marketing and consumer behavior, assumptions that may fit middle‐class consumers better than they do working‐class consumers. Revisiting previous findings with an emphasis on social class allows us to offer an agenda for future research regarding advertising and consumer persuasion, material versus experiential purchases, conspicuous and compensatory consumption, and market segmentation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stratification and segmentation: Social class in consumer behavior

2016

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“…Our research makes several contributions to the literature on social class. Although it is widely recognized that social class, as a useful factor for market segmentation, shapes consumer behavior on diverse consumption contexts (for reviews, see Henry, ; Kamakura & Mazzon, ), little is known about the cognitive processes that might account for social class effects (for reviews, see Carey & Markus, ; Shavitt, Jiang, & Cho, ). Our research fills this gap.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can a Rude Waiter Make Your Food Less Tasty? Social Class Differences in Thinking Style and Carryover in Consumer Judgments

Lee¹

2017

J Consum Psychol

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Building on the notion that cognitive processes vary across social classes, we predict that social class shapes thinking style, which in turn affects consumer judgments. In doing so, we employ service failure domains as a way to understand social class effects. Across four studies, we show that, when faced with a failure incident occurring in one service dimension (e.g., rude employees), consumers in the low social class, relative to those in the high social class, carry over to influence their evaluations of the other service dimensions (e.g., food quality) that are unrelated to the failure incident. We further show that low‐class consumers favor a holistic style of thinking, whereas high‐class consumers favor an analytic style of thinking and that these differences in thinking style account for the carryover effects on evaluations. The pattern of the effects exists when the service failure is perceived to be severe rather than minor.

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Social class and conspicuous brand logo in gift choice

Lee,

Haderlie,

Miyazaki

et al. 2024

J of Consumer Behaviour

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While conspicuous consumption may be more prevalent for consumers identified as lower (vs. higher) social class, little is known about when and why they prefer conspicuousness in their consumption activities. Drawing from the conceptual perspectives of class‐based norms and self‐protection, we demonstrate the differential effects of social class on preferences for conspicuous logos and the possible explanations underlying the effects. To this end, we employ gift‐giving contexts and identify gift recipients (self‐recipient vs. other‐recipient) as an important boundary condition. Across four studies, lower‐ (vs. higher‐) social‐class consumers exhibit stronger preferences for conspicuous logos, particularly when choosing a gift for others. This effect occurs because lower‐ (vs. higher‐) social‐class consumers have a stronger desire to fit in with others and gain social status. These findings shed light on when and why lower‐social‐class consumers prefer conspicuous logos.

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Understanding consumer psychology in working‐class contexts

Cited by 34 publications

References 84 publications

Stratification and segmentation: Social class in consumer behavior

Stratification and segmentation: Social class in consumer behavior

Can a Rude Waiter Make Your Food Less Tasty? Social Class Differences in Thinking Style and Carryover in Consumer Judgments

Social class and conspicuous brand logo in gift choice

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